While I’m quite active on Snapchat, I’ve been testing out various emerging broadcasting platforms and a clear pattern has emerged. Micro Video, a.k.a short form video, has become more prolific in 2016.
Micro Video is content that is less than 60 seconds.
Vine and it’s demise
It’s a pity that Twitter didn’t make the most of Vine, it was famous for creating funny 6-second videos. Vine had all the right ingredients for a successful video platform: active content makers, strong community, high engagement and shareability. Yet, it died in the end, because Twitter didn’t create or maintain a strong survival plan to continue it’s existence.
Facebook loves video
As shown with the recent Facebook numbers, video has been made a priority. Video is a stepping stone to Virtual Reality (VR), and VR is a huge part of Mark Zuckerberg’s game plan.
We just announced our quarterly results and gave an update on our community's progress in making the world more open and connected. Our community now has 1.8 billion people. We hit the milestone of 1.2 billion people using our apps every day.Our biggest focus has been putting video first across our apps. People are creating and sharing more video than ever, so we're building new tools to make it easier to express yourself in creative ways.The number of people going Live on Facebook at any moment has grown by 4x since May. We launched Instagram Stories less than 3 months ago, and already more than 100 million people are using it every day. We're also building a brand new camera across our apps and we'll be adding even more visual messaging tools over the next few months. Our community has a lot to be proud of this quarter. Thanks for being a part of this journey to connect the world.
Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday, 2 November 2016
Still, the numbers don’t lie, 1.8 billion people users Facebook per month!! Read it out loud with me: 1.8 billion! That’s 24% of the world’s population.
Another fact to consider: on a daily basis, 1 billion people use Facebook through their mobile.
Being in Australia, we are also privileged to being Facebook’s guinea pig. Along with Poland, we are testing out Messenger Day (MD), and it is the same as Snapchat. The design is the same, the user experience is the same. The only thing that’s missing are the face lenses. The likelihood is they will be integrated soon, as Facebook acquired Masquerade, an augmented reality for face selfies in March 2016.
Then there’s Instagram Stories, another rip-off of Snapchat, which is doing well with it’s existing influencers. I was talking to Tony Hollingworth, co-founder of emerging influencer platform, Oompty, that looks after it’s foodie community, and he mentions that foodie influencers stopped using Snapchat and preferred Instagram Stories. Hardly surprising, since most of their work and community is on Instagram.
If anything, Facebook with its various rolls out has validated the idea of micro videos.
Should Snapchat be worried?
I’m a fan of Snapchat, they continue to innovate and inspire me. They lead the way in terms of content consumption and community engagement. That’s why I still use it to create content. But, yes, they should be worried. Facebook is being blatant with it’s approach and integrating the user experience of micro video consumption into its own ecosystem. Facebook also has the advantage of having an existing large network of active users. Instead of downloading another platform, many will use the platform that has familiarity, convenience and ease of use.
Micro Video is the trend for 2017
As shown by the major players on various broadcasting platforms, especially with Facebook, micro video is the way to go. In the previous post, if you replace “Snapchat” with “micro video”, the key points remain the same.
If you’re a business, brand or an influencer, include micro video as part of your marketing strategy.